Relaxing, cooking, cleaning, crafting.

Two weeks into the holidays, and I am starting to relax. I am still dreaming about work, but definitely thinking about it less when I am awake. We have mostly been at home over the last fortnight, with a quick trip up to Durham and a few days out. The weather has been pretty awful, lots of wind and rain and days of heavy cloud. 

I have been on a mission to regain some kind of order over the domestic situation in the house. I have moved through rooms, washing, wiping, vacuuming, mopping and sorting out piles of clutter. 

 It has been very therapeutic.

The kitchen got a very thorough clean, the sort in which parts of the fridge, freezer and oven saw a cloth and disinfectant for the first time in months. Cupboards were wiped and organised, drawers emptied and tidied. 

This prompted a lot of cooking. I love cooking in the school holidays. There is more time for thinking about what needs using up and planning interesting meals around the contents of the fridge or cupboards. Nothing is wasted because I forgot about it sitting in the back of the fridge.

There is time for French toast for breakfast.

Or lunches made up of leftover mashed potatoes and greens, re-heated and mixed together topped with poached eggs and lots of hot sauce.

An audit of the spices and the discovery of lots of opened packets of red lentils, prompted this delicious dinner of dahl topped with roasted sweet potatoes and coconut chutney, recipe here.

For me, holiday cooking is less about what we need to cook (dinner) and more about slow, store cupboard cooking, investment cooking. Like this granola.

And, my much-anticipated summer favourite, blackcurrant and liquorice ice cream. The recipe is from Simply Nigella but I cannot find a version of it online.

It's a no-churn recipe, so you just whip the blackcurrants, cream and condensed milk together then pour into a tub, drizzling with liquorice syrup which you swirl through.

It's only me who eats it so I always add more than the recipe suggests. 

Me friend Abbie gave me some cherries from her tree, a huge bag of them. I stoned and halved them, then tossed them into a pan to simmer with a little sugar to make compote. 

I've been eating it with my granola and some plain yogurt, but it would also be delicious with pancakes or waffles. 

I bought some really nice nectarines so made this marzipan and nectarine cake by Claire Thomson, who I follow on Instagram under @5oclockapron. Her reels of her cooking are so good. 

It went down very well. It is the kind of cake best served warm although it is lovely cold. You need to eat it up quickly though or it goes soggy.

And finally ginger slices, which have a flapjack base with zingy ginger icing on top they are so good and keep for ages which is just as well as the recipe makes a lot. They are from the book One Tin Bakes Easy by Edd Kimber which I am loving at the moment. 

And finally, the thing I am most proud of, is this sourdough. I managed to kill my old starter so at Easter made a new one. I have been trying hard to remember to feed it frequently and finally had the time and head space to make a loaf a couple of days ago. Sourdough is not hard, but you have to think about the timings: when to feed, when to stretch and fold, when to overnight prove etc. This rose really well and I was happy. 

I have been making good progress on my Iceland embroidery. I have added a volcano, snowflake, geysur and whale.

 The whale is my favourite so far. 

I have also whipped up (and it was very quick and easy) a summery bag.

I chose remnants of Drops Paris Arran weight cotton and used a 5mm hook to make these large squares, which I folded in half and sewed together, like this.

Then I added a strap and a button, and hey presto.

Below is proof that I have left the house. There were end of term drinks.

Coffee dates with John.

Lunch out and bookshop time on the wettest and greyest of days.

New nails.

Muddy dog walks in wet woods.

And a few days in Durham.

Finally, a few photos of Bella ready to go to her school prom. It rained so heavily we could not take any nice photos outside so made do with the living room.

I love that she felt comfortable and confident, and very much like herself. She did her own hair and make-up and wore her trainers. She had a great time.

Summer rolling onwards

It's been so busy! Lots of weekends crammed with going here and there, near and far. 

After Bella's last GCSE exam, we headed to London for the day, a trip postponed from half term due to the train strikes. We began our day at the Tate Britain, somewhere I haven't visited for many years. I think I prefer it to Tate Modern.

One of my most loved pictures here, The Lady of Shallott, was sadly on loan to a different gallery but I still enjoyed looking for other favourites. 

We wandered through Whitehall, stopping for a quick lunch on the way, then spent the afternoon exploring and popping in and out of shops.

We had ice cream somewhere around Leicester Square, popped into Waterstones Piccadilly, then made our way back to Victoria station via Buckingham Palace and Green Park. 

We walked about 18,000 steps. It was hot, but also a really fun day.

Work has been really busy. We had a 3-night school residential (during which I climbed the climbing wall, a lot of fun), an Enterprise Fair, Leaver's play, Art Week, and many other activities which are all highly enjoyable for the children but exhausting for the teachers.

It has been lovely to spend time with friends lately. I have really packed lots in: now my timetable involves less planning and marking, my weekends are a little more free. Sadly, my energy levels are struggling a bit!

There was very nice day in Horsham with my friend Abbie, during which we had coffee outside, lunch inside and a wonderfully long browse in Waterstones. 

I very much enjoyed all the recommend signs around the store and succumbed to a few.

 

The bedside table reading pile reflects my current book purchasing. I am so excited to spend some time reading over the summer holidays. I've just finished Trespasses by Louise Kennedy and thought it was very good. Eight out of ten, maybe a nine. It's set in Belfast in the 1970s during the height of the troubles and is really compelling.

Occasionally, John and I leave the kids behind on dog walks. We always ask them to join us, but if they really don't want to come (it depends where we're going) we make a little date of it, go somewhere nice, buy an ice cream. This was raspberry ripple and - something I've never had before - chocolate sorbet. It's like frozen chocolate mousse. Very rich. I wished I'd got the raspberry ripple. It perked up a very dull and flat-skied Saturday, anyway.

One of my oldest friends from Leeds, Kate, was over visiting from Australia, where she now lives. She was staying in Kent and we worked out that the Birling Gap was pretty much halfway between her place and mine, so met up there for a pub lunch and a long walk.

I don't know this part of the south coast, with the rolling hills of the Seven Sisters, at all, so it made a change to walk somewhere different, and in such good company too.

There have been moments at home too, with a mixed bag of weather. When it's been warm and sunny it's absolutely glorious. I am much better at stopping and relaxing when it's hot, more inclined to sit down with my book, rather than keeping busy with jobs. (I loved Magpie Murders - great twist!)

I don't feel like I've cooked anything of note lately, and certainly not baked anything (no time/too hot). But there has been pizza, cooked outside in the oven.

Roast chicken with a huge salad of couscous, roasted vegetables and fresh herbs, homemade chips (for the kids), green salad and - the best thing about a meal on a hot day - a bottle of rose.

The warmer weather had me craving a lunch that makes me think of France: Boursin cheese on a baguette topped with sliced radish. The combination of crispy-peppery crunch and gooey, garlicky cheese is good.

The currants in the garden were finally ready to pick.

I have in the freezer I kg of redcurrants and 300 g of blackcurrants. I wish it was the other way round, but I have enough blackcurrants to make ice cream which is all I want. I think the redcurrants will become jelly. They are all safe and sound in the freezer until I have time to think about cooking them.

Some moments of self care in amongst the busy weekends and work days: a haircut, new nails, some crochet, reading, watching TV, new clothes and buying books. I am terrible at prioritising rest but have tried to make time to do quiet things.

Now we are on countdown until the end of term. I have so many things I want to do in the summer holidays, I may have to write a big list.